Religion and Politics

Abstract

Europe is the only continent to have been wholly Christianized. The Gospels began to be preached in the second century, they reached the former territories of the Roman Empire in the sixth century, and the rest of Europe was converted during the ninth and tenth centuries. Nevertheless, after an initial period of unity, the history of the continent was marked by a number of splits, starting with the schism between the Western and Orthodox churches in the eleventh century, followed by the Muslim conquest of the Balkans in the fifteenth century and the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The impact of these ruptures was still being felt across Europe centuries later, notably in the conflicts which have punctuated Irish history since the beginning of the last century, as well as the wars in Eastern Europe and Bosnia and Herzegovina which followed the disintegration of the communist bloc. In other words, far from being a unifying force, Europe’s religious baggage has been a constant source of divisiveness, manifesting itself not only in tension between nations, but also in relations between Church and State, and in the attitudes and behavior of various European populations. From this point of view, France occupies a particular place. France’s revolution—the first great revolution of the eighteenth century—led to the substantial modification of the alliance between the Catholic Church and the State, and provided a model of the secularization of politics which was subsequently adopted in other countries.